


Dreams of the Son

by Blood_of_Tyrants



Category: Religious Fiction
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-02-23 11:08:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23577202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blood_of_Tyrants/pseuds/Blood_of_Tyrants
Summary: Rob MacArthur's dream was a very special one. And because he recorded it on his neuralizer and shared it, there are powerful people who want him to pay.





	Dreams of the Son

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Deborah Stovall](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Deborah+Stovall).



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Dreams of the Son

by David Stovall

“How did they find us?” Rob wondered to himself. Had returned the old burner phones, stayed off the Internet, and had not contacted any family or friends from his previous life, and paid for everything with multi-vendor gift cards, a prepaid debit card or cash donated to him by the network in small bills. But they managed to find him anyway. His only contact with the network was through a burner cell phone. If it ever rang, he knew someone from the network was trying to reach him. The message had been simple, the caller had said simply, “Acadia”, the code word that meant the call was from the network, followed by, “Code red. Jasmine. Repeat: Acadia, code red, jasmine.” Code red meant that he and his family were in danger and to evacuate immediately. Jasmine was to be the next confirmation code word to verify the next call and shared the information with Kat and the girls.

The sun was peeking over the eastern horizon when the girls were dressed and had their things packed. “Dear Father,” he silently prayed, “Protect us from those who would harm us.” Jesus had never said that being a Christian would mean living the high life on Easy Street. In fact, he had said the opposite. Matthew 24:9 says. “Then they will hand you over for persecution, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of My name.” That was not one of Rob’s favorite verses and definitely not his wife’s or girls’. He made a last sweep of the two bedroom extended stay motel to make sure nothing was left behind and herded everyone out to the 10-year-old minivan, also provided by the network, loaded up everything, checked to make sure everyone was buckled in and left, turning right out of the hotel parking lot along the pre-planned route. 

After the first right he started watching for the contact person. He saw a homeless man at an intersection with a backpack and a sign that said, “Anything helps, God bless." There were a lot of homeless people since the states had split. Rob stopped near him and Kat gave him $5 with the name “Jasmine” written on it. The homeless man looked at the bill and gave her his backpack. Kat gave him a similar backpack with their old cell phones, gift cards, and vehicle registration inside knowing the network would dispose of them. The man said, “God bless you on your journey”, and they drove away. 

Inside the backpack was a manila envelope containing a temporary New York license plate, $500 cash, gift cards, and a new burner cell phone. Also, included was an old-fashioned paper map with a route marked and scrap of paper with an ad for a motel about 400 miles southwest in Louisville, Kentucky. The road was still empty this early, so he pulled around to the back of small gas station and quickly changed the license plates and threw the old one into a nearby dumpster. “Looks like we’re headed to the Free States finally,” Kat announced, taking up her usual role as navigator.

  


When California seceded, Washington, Oregon, and New York quickly followed declaring that their new union to be called the Peoples’ Republic of America. The New England states, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Pennsylvania followed suit to join the PRA, as did Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, Hawaii, New Mexico, and Colorado. Parts of California split, denounced the secession; forming a new state called Jefferson and applied for statehood in the old USA. Eastern Washington and most of Oregon also left the PRA. The rural parts of Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania divorced themselves from the left wing lunacy of Minneapolis, Chicago, Miswaulee, and Philadelphia. 

The remaining US states called for a Convention of States and made several very important changes to the Constitution. Among them was a repeal of the 16th and 17th Amendments, dissolving the income tax and returning selection of senators to the state legislatures. Term limits for representatives and senators were enacted and states gave themselves the ability to overrule a Supreme Court decision and federal laws. Included in the new amendments was the elimination of government regulations imposed by federal agencies, specifically prohibiting Congress from creating agencies, bureaus, departments, etc, with the power to create rules with the weight of law. Also, there was a clarification of the “health and welfare clause” that prohibited giving public assistance to able-bodied and able minded people except on a short term basis. Along with these changes was a narrowing of the “interstate commerce clause”, which had long been used as an excuse for thousands of federal regulations and laws. Current regulations were required to sunset five years unless Congress specifically renewed them.

The 2nd Amendment was changed to read, “Every free person, being a necessary member of the militia, shall not be prohibited from the right to keep and bear arms suitable for use in the militia”. 

A form of Social Security was kept but was ended for persons under 50 with whatever they had contributed going to an IRA. Everyone older than 50 was given the options of a payout to an IRA or keeping their existing benefits. 

Once the movement to deport illegal aliens from the United States began, the PRA immediately increased their ongoing cries of racism. The United States, or the Free States, as they preferred to be called, offered to send them to the PRA, who refused the offer. 

But most important was the Life Amendment which stated that unborn children were legal persons and had full protection under the Constitution. The sole exception for abortion was if the mother’s life was at immediate risk because of the pregnancy.

Recognizing the problem of a declining birthrate in the West, the Free States offered incentives such as government subsidies for housing and education and food for families with four or more children.

On the other hand, the PRA went the opposite direction, forming was essentially a totalitarian socialist state. The first thing to go was the right to keep and bear arms. The few law-abiding gun owners in the PRA either turned their guns in, moved away, or hid them. Once the population was disarmed, all the other freedoms fell, too. 

Anything determined to be “hate speech” was punishable by heavy fines and mandatory “re-education.” The government actively censored websites that were reported to be intolerant. Calling a person by something other than their “preferred pronoun” was considered a hate crime. Any church or private school that spoke out against homosexuality or taught any other politically incorrect topic was closed down. Virtually all Christian churches and schools were shut down. But for some reason the Muslim imams who preached against homosexuality were ignored. 

The 4th Amendment protections against unlawful search and seizure was eliminated and the state could inspect your home or business at any time for any reason. Illegal aliens were given instant citizenship and the right to vote. Many of the new uneducated and unskilled PRA citizens immediately applied for public assistance. 

Free college education and free health care was guaranteed in the PRA as well as free money for anyone unable or unwilling to work. This caused resentment among the ones who did work and as a result production and quality plummeted. Recreational drugs were legalized n the PRA, which turned out to be a blessing to the Free States, drawing in drug addicts from all over the continent to the PRA and out of the Free States. Sadly, the right to abortion paid by the government up until birth was included in the guaranteed health care portion of their constitution. This quickly degenerated into infanticide of “undesirable” children born with birth defects and euthanizing the elderly with dementia or other incurable diseases.

Taxes went up to pay for all the “free stuff” causing businesses and the wealthy to flee. To make up for the revenue loss, taxes were raised even more which in turn caused more businesses and people to leave. Within three years inflation was in the triple digits. Laws were enacted to prevent people emigrating from the PRA from removing assets with them, but there were ways around that. Houses and bank accounts of emigrants became property of the state, as did anything of substantial value. Still, people were eager to abandon the PRA and their mortgages. Mortgage holders folded under the weight of defaulted loans; the now empty homes made into public housing for the instant citizens. Decent neighborhoods became third world almost overnight. The same people who had publicly opposed the wall at the Mexican border proceeded to build walls along the PRA’s borders, only this time the barbed wire and guns were facing inward.

The PRA became a cesspool of high unemployment and crime, higher taxes as the standard of living plummeted. Those left were idealists who believed that socialism could work if only the “right people” were in charge, the sick and dying, the elderly too set in their ways to move, the poor, and the stubborn. Rob had been one of the latter, refusing to admit he was witnessing the disintegration of a culture and a country. 

  


Robert MacArthur, ‘Mr. Mac’ to the students, was the type of teacher everyone liked. He made science interesting by instituting science into common daily tasks such as determining the amount of force required to launch a tennis ball 20 feet and fall onto a target and designing a device out of a sheet of paper and a few pieces of tape to protect an egg from breakage when dropped from 20 feet. His students especially enjoyed making “elephant toothpaste” by mixing potassium iodide and hydrogen peroxide. Interesting but not as enjoyable was the “wind chill” experiments where the kids bundled up and went outside on a cold day to learn firsthand how the meteorologists determined what the wind chill factors meant by measuring how fast a beaker of hot water cooled on a windy day vs a calm one.

It was this kind of hands-on his kids, 7th graders, liked. He liked teaching them, too, as they were still at an age of innocence and most had not developed the stereotypical teenage attitude. Science wasn’t the only reason the kids liked him. He refused to give mushy answers when the kids would ask difficult questions about life, government, religion, and sex. Being a private Christian school teacher in Massachusetts meant that he could state facts that could be verified. His opinions and beliefs had to be clearly stated as such. His Christian faith wasn’t generally a “problem” until Massachusetts left the US and joined the PRA. He and his wife, Kathryn, Kat for short, who was an LPN, barely managed to get by. 

It began with a theory by Nicola Tesla over 100 years ago. He theorized that since thoughts were electrical energy, their ought to be a way to record them. A graduate engineering student’s interest was piqued when friend said that the brain waves from a sleeping person had a certain pattern and that when electrodes were placed on different areas of the head, they would produce different patterns of theta waves. The student was intrigued and wondered if they could be processed and recorded by a computer then viewed by another person. The successes of other people who developed signal processing equations that allowed 360 degree views from fish-eye camera lenses and an equation that corrected a singer’s voice and put them into perfect tune encouraged him. 

His first attempts were failures but eventually images began to come through. Just shadowy patterns at first, but by tweaking the equation, more clarity started to emerge. Not only images, but words and sounds were recorded and put with the images onto computers. At first, Andy only recorded his own dreams and played them for his friends, but they begged him to record their dreams, too. Most were disjointed, quick flashes of sub consciousness but a few were vivid. Some were embarrassing, some funny, and a few were sexy. 

This was all interesting if you were a high school or college kid or a psychologist but the real breakthrough was when a device dubbed the neuralizer, after the memory-erasing device in a popular movie, also allowed the recorded dreams to be projected directly into the mind of a relaxed person. This was a real game changer because not only sight and sound were projected, but smell, taste, touch and emotions as well. A person could experience the fear of a person with agoraphobia having a bad dream about falling or the embarrassment of dreaming of being partially dressed in public or the love of a mother for her children. 

Word of this discovery soon leaked on the Internet and legitimate and illegitimate buyers on the Dark Web offered a substantial amount of money for the technology in the hopes of using the neuralizer for less than honorable purposes. Governments hoped to use it for interrogation of enemies of the state and terrorists for brainwashing potential recruits into their extreme ideologies. Pornographers wanted it for obvious reasons. 

Companies quickly seized on the opportunity and began marketing the neuralizer as a smart phone device and app. Soon the Internet was filled with dreams and companies selling neuralizers for a nominal price. Websites popped up seemingly overnight where dreams could be uploaded and downloaded. But for some reason all attempts to manufacture or modify dreams failed. An attempted fake could be spotted quickly because the emotional component couldn’t be programmed. For example, if a person viewing the dream wasn’t afraid of spiders and the computer generated recording was about spiders, it was merely a video of a spider, while a genuine recording would cause the viewer to feel the fear an arachnophobe would. 

A new industry had sprung up almost overnight.

Always interested in technology, Rob bought a neuralizer for no particular reason he could fathom. His first dreams were pretty mundane about former jobs and people he knew. But one night he had a dream that would change everything. He knew the dream was special even while he was dreaming it. It was a dream about the biggest question that people had been asking since Cain killed Abel; What lies beyond this life? 

In the dream, Rob found himself in a special place. The only feelings he had were of love and peace. The kind of love that encompasses all and leaves no room for pain or worry or sorrow. He was peripherally aware of other people around him, but he could not see who they were. Nor could he care as the peace and love washed over him like a gentle, warm ocean.

During the dream a man with a shining face appeared and Rob immediately knew who he was and fell to his knees with his head bowed, “My Lord!” he barely managed to choke out. 

“You know who I am. Look at me, Robert,” replied the man. He was the Son of God, the King, the Lamb. Surprisingly, Rob felt no fear, just curiosity. The glow of Son’s face subsided and what struck Rob the most was at how ordinary he looked. He looked nothing like the tall western Christian Jesus with flowing brown hair and light skin. Instead, he was of medium height, stout build with short dark hair and beard, and the olive skin typical of Eastern Mediterranean people. The most remarkable thing about him was he was unremarkable. 

“Come, walk with me.” Rob didn’t want to leave the place and looked back. “Don’t worry,” said the Son, “You will come back some day because you believe in me. It is but a short stop on your journey.”

As they walked, Rob began to notice his surroundings. They were entering a garden, but unlike any garden he had ever seen. It was peaceful, yes, but it was much more. The colors were more vivid and sharp than he could have imagined, extending far into the infrared and ultraviolet ranges, enabling him to see things that were formerly invisible. Children ran and played and laughed among animals and plants that were supposed to have been extinct for centuries or millennia. The children were of every race imaginable and were all incredibly beautiful with no disabilities or illnesses. Everything had an aura of living color that rippled like water dancing in a brook on a sunny day. As they passed, some children paused in their activities and waved. The closer ones ran to hug the Son. He smiled and hugged each one in turn. All the animals bowed in acknowledgment of the Son of God. The Son noticed every bow and returned a smile and acknowledgment. At the acknowledgment, the animal’s aura would ripple with joy. He slowed for a second and saw an ant scurrying across their path and found when he concentrated on it, he could hear the tiny sounds of its legs moving and actually smell the formaldehyde scent of the ant among all the other scents of the garden. He watched and was amazed as he saw the ant perform a tiny, graceful bow as the Son passed. 

“Why are there no adults?” asked Rob. 

“Why would anyone choose to be an adult when they are a child of the Living God? Your eyes have been opened so you can see how it was meant to be in the beginning,” replied the Son with a smile. Almost as if his mind was being read, the Son said, “Here your mistakes and sins are forgiven and forgotten. It is the only way. In hell, you relive each and every sin and mistake and regret in your life forever and ever. But come, your time is short and you must see more.” As they walked, the Son explained, “The first place you were is similar to the womb. In it you are healed from the emotional pains and sorrows of life by the Father’s love. And like a womb, you must leave it after a time and grow.” 

They walked on for a while, the Son pausing often to hug a child. It could have been minutes or hours as time had no meaning here. The garden path gave way to a clearing where an uncountable multitude of children were gathered. Everyone was watching the throne in the center in eager anticipation. Each person shining with a different color light, from the palest pink to the deepest vermilion, light blue to deep indigo, thousands of colors that weaved among each other as the children waited. Each one added to the feeling of love that he felt.

“Watch,” instructed the Son. Suddenly the throne began to shine like the sun, but for some reason it did not blind him. Even though they were on the edge of the crowd, he could see the throne as though he was in the front. He watched amazed as the living colors of the children danced higher. Something was happening that Rob could not make out and suddenly the children fell on their faces and began to cry, “Holy, holy, holy is our God who is worthy to be praised!” 

Rob looked to the Son with an unspoken question. “That was the Father,” explained the Son, “He was revealing something about His glory that no one had ever seen before. His children gather each day to witness The Revealing. You were not able to see it because it is not yet your time to be here. There is much more than what you have been shown.”

“But now your time here is over for a while. This is but a glimpse of what awaits those who believe in me. The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Go and spread this message throughout the world.”

And just like that Rob awoke, remembering everything, but especially the feeling of love in the place of healing and wondered what the Son had meant by more than he had been shown. It was early, but he was wide awake. Panicked, he felt his head and was relieved as he felt the soft silicone of the neuralizer sensors and tapped the screen of his smart phone and saw that it had recorded his dream and verified it was being uploaded to the cloud. The timer said that the dream lasted 4 minutes 36 seconds. “Four and a half minutes?” he thought, it had seemed like hours. He silently said a quick prayer of thanks and waited for the alarm. 

When the alarm sounded, he slapped it off, rolled over, and kissed Kat on the cheek. “Good morning, beautiful.” 

Kat mumbled a sleepy, “Good morning”. Their morning routine consisted of Kat wakening the girls while Rob shaved, showered, and dressed. During his shower, he thought about what to do now. He clearly remembered his instructions to spread the message about the dream but something made him uneasy. He dressed quickly, grabbed a bagel and a cup of coffee and lingered in the kitchen where Kat prepared the girls’ breakfast and lunch. 

“I’ve got something to show you this afternoon,” he said to Kat. 

“What did you do now?” asked Kat cynically but playfully.

“Nothing,” he replied semi-defensively, “I had a dream and I want to show it to you.”

“Not another one where you are feeding ducks or drag racing,” she said sarcastically. Kat had not approved of Rob’s neuralizer purchase and would view Rob’s recordings but refused to view uploaded dreams of others. But since she loved him, she indulged him in his fascination. 

“No, this one is special. You’ll see,” he promised through a mouthful of bagel.

“I can hardly wait,” she said sarcastically. 

“Girls! Come on, it’s almost time to leave with Daddy!” she yelled out.

Abby was the studious one who took school seriously was the opposite of Emma, 8, who had to be coaxed, reminded, and sometimes scolded to get her homework done. Never less both girls were straight A students. Kat was thankful that Rob’s teaching position at the Christian school allowed free tuition for their daughters and keep them out of the public schools’ indoctrination centers. 

“Mom, when can I finally get a cell phone?”, asked Abby in a slightly whiny voice. “All of my friends have one.”

“You know we can’t afford another cell phone,” said Kat, somewhat annoyed. “You can get one when you can work and earn the money to pay for it yourself.”

“I’ve saved money from babysitting and can make the monthly payments myself,” replied Abby hopefully.

She and Rob had discussed this long ago and had decided that they would allow Abby to get a cell phone for her 15th birthday in a few months. Until then, all the girls’ Internet access was filtered by a parental control app. There were far too many bad things on the Internet and pornography wasn’t the worst of them.

“Not yet,” said Kat firmly. “Now go get in the car. It’s time to go to school.” She handed them their lunches and kissed them all as they went out the back door. 

Rob could barely concentrate on the lessons of the day for thinking about his dream, frequently checking to make sure it was still there and remembering how loved he felt. He knew he must share it, but hesitated still. Kat usually had good instincts about things like this, so he trusted her judgment. During a free period, he pulled out his neuralizer and viewed the dream to make sure it was as he remembered. As he watched it he again experienced the love, the heightened senses, and the wonder of being in the presence of the King. He pondered The Revealing and thought about it. If God revealed something about himself each day, it would literally take forever to see even a portion of his greatness.

When the day finally ended, the girls waited in his classroom while he finished grading papers and entering the grades into the computer. He logged out, gathered his belongings and felt his pocket for his smart phone. He made sure the girls had all they would need for homework that evening and headed home. 

When he got home, he sat in his favorite chair and scanned social media for anything interesting. It was the usual, more Christian schools shut down in New England and California for “teaching hate”, more bad news on the PRA economy, crime in the PRA was up again, but the politicians assured the people that prosperity was just around the corner with the next round of laws and new taxes. Disgusted, he closed his laptop and went to the kitchen.

“What’s for dinner?” he asked while peeking under the pan lids.

“Spaghetti and meatballs,” answered Kat.

“Smells delicious,” returned Rob. “Will you view my dream after supper?”

“Yes, if you’ll clean up dinner dishes,” she replied.

“Deal!” he said emphatically.

After the dishes had been washed and leftovers put away for lunches the next day, Kat settled down and said, “Well, let’s see it,” she said. “But before I view it, what am I going to see? It’s not scary or gross, is it?”

“No, it’s nothing I wouldn’t let Abby or Emma see. It’s pretty cool, actually. I think it is, anyway,” he replied hesitantly. 

She put the neuralizer on as Rob ran the calibration routine. When it finished he told her so, and she touched the Play button on Rob’s smart phone. Rob watched nervously as Kat closed her eyes and started smiling, then stopped smiling and made an “o” with her mouth. He saw a tear trickle down her cheek as it ended. Kat opened her eyes and looked questioningly at Rob. Then she blurted out, “Was that heaven? Was that Jesus? The colors! The sounds! Everything was so vivid that everything looks dull, now! I’ve never felt love so strongly! Not that I don’t believe you love me, but God’s love is infinitely better! He even knew my name!”

“What,” asked Rob confusedly. “He said your name? I’m sure he said my name.”

“No, I’m sure he called me by my name,” said Kat.

“Really? Well, that’s different,” said Rob. All the dreams he had ever viewed were specific to the dreamer. You always experienced exactly what they did, he explained to Kat.

“What should we do with it?”

“We have to make copies. We have to upload it to the Internet to share just like He said to!”, she answered quickly. “You do have an account on one of the neuralizer websites, don’t you?”

Rob did have one, but his dreams had only been downloaded a few dozen times as they were pretty ordinary as dreams went.

“Good idea. It is backed up on the cloud, but I haven’t made copies, yet”, he confessed. Rob synced his smart phone with his laptop computer and downloaded the dream to it. He emailed Kat a copy and made a copy for the thumb drive he kept on his key chain, and just for good measure, another copy to a micro memory card that he hid in a box of Chiclets and stuffed it into his pocket.

“Have Abby and Emily seen it yet?” asked Kat.

“Not yet, do you think they should?” he asked.

“Of course! They ought to see it right now,” she answered quickly. “Abby! Emma! Come here, there is something we want you to see.”

The girls came downstairs and asked, “What is it?”

Kat asked them, “You’ve heard of the neuralizer, haven’t you?” As they nodded Kat continued, “Daddy had a special dream last night, and we want you to view it.”

“What was it about? It’s not something weird, is it?” asked Abby cautiously. 

“No, sweetie,” assured Kat, “It’s something special that we want you to see.”

First Rob put the neuralizer on Abby and ran the calibration routine and said to Abby, “It’s best if you are relaxed with the lights down and the room quiet, baby girl.” Rob started the program and waited while Abby silently viewed it. Her reactions were much like her mother’s. When she finished she said, “Wow! That was cool! What...” she began.

“What was it?”, whined Emma. “I want to see it,” she begged.

“We’ll answer your questions after Emma has viewed it,” explained Rob. “Emma, your turn.”

Rob put the neuralizer on Emma and calibrated it again for her then played it. Emma smiled for a bit and then reached out as if trying to touch something only she could see. When she finished, she opened her eyes and said, “That’s the way I felt when I was in your tummy, Mommy. Who was that nice man? I like him.”

Kat smiled and said, “That was Jesus, sweetie.”

“Was that heaven?” she asked innocently.

“A little part of it,” answered Rob.

“I thought so,” said Abby.

“Will I go there?” Emma asked.

“If you believe in Jesus,” said Kat.

“Is that all?” she asked.

“Not quite,” said Rob. “You have to believe that Jesus was the son of God who died for our sins and rose again.”  
“I believe that,” said Emma solemnly. “If it’s so easy, why doesn’t everyone do it?”

“I don’t know, honey. Some people think that believing in Jesus means they have to stop doing the things they like doing, even though they are wrong,” said Rob, “But when you belong to Jesus, you will want to change and live more like God wants us to.”

“I want to be good so God will love me,” said Emma.

“Sweetie, God loves everyone, even if they are being bad”, joined Kat, “But God can’t be in the presence of bad people, and no one is good enough to be with him, so he sent Jesus to pay for our badness. Once you accept that Jesus can take your sins away, you can go to heaven with God.”

“The bible says in Romans 10:9, ‘If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.’ All you have to do now is say it,” said Rob.

“How do I do that?” asked Emma.

“Well, you pray like this,” said Abby. “Here, let’s all hold hands.”

As they held hands Rob began, “Dear Father, Emma has something to say to you.”

“God,” began Emma hesitantly, “I want to go to heaven when I die. I believe Jesus died for me and that you raised him from the dead. I want to be good like Jesus was in the dream. Is that all I need to say?”

“Yes, sweetie”, said Kat, “That’s all.” And she finished with, “Amen.”

The four of them hugged tearfully but joyfully.

“Do I get to get baptized now, Mommy?” asked Emma.

“We’ll talk to the pastor about that Sunday morning,” reassured Kat. “Now, it’s bath time. It’s Emma’s turn to go first. Now, up you go.”

After they had gone upstairs Kat turned to Rob while wiping away her tears, “Rob, I’ve prayed for her her whole life and this is the happiest I’ve ever been for her.”

“Me, too,” Rob choked out. “I’ll email Pastor John and see if she can be baptized Sunday morning.”

  
  


After composing and sending the email, Rob said a prayer thanking God for their salvation and the dream and uploaded it to his neuralizer sharing account and named it ‘Dreams of the Son’. He wondered what effect it would have on other people and thought, “It’s in God’s hands, now. I’ve done my part.” And with that he closed his laptop, turned on the television and forgot about the dream for the night.

The next morning while walking to first period class, someone excitedly called out, “Mac! Wait up!” Rob paused as Sean Carter, a fellow teacher, breathlessly ran to catch up. “Have you looked at your neuralizer account this morning? It’s exploded and gone viral! Look!” he said, thrusting a notepad computer into Rob’s hands. 

“What?” asked Rob skeptically. As he looked, he saw that it had already had over 50,000 views and had been linked to over 5,000 times. 

“And that’s not all,” said Sean, “Look at the comments; there's thousands.”

Rob scrolled down and saw encouraging comments such as, “This brought tears to my eyes. TY for sharing and affirming my faith”, “He knows my name!”, and “Is this heaven? How can I know that I will go there?” and many similar comments. 

But conversely there were also comments such as, “Lies! I hope you burn in hell you ****** ******”, and “FOAD”, and more disturbing, “We’re coming after you for this!”. 

Rob felt a lump in his stomach and put his hand out against the wall to steady himself. “God, what have I done?” he thought. For the first time in his adult life he felt fear gripping him as he questioned, “Is this real? Are Kat and the girls safe?” 

Almost immediately the answer came to him, “You have done just as you have been instructed to do, my son. Do not fear for I am with you.” With that Rob felt himself calmed somewhat. 

“What are you going to do?” asked Sean.

“I’m not sure, but I will trust God and go teach first period.” replied Rob. 

Throughout the morning, Rob taught classes but the students could tell he was distracted. Finally, one boy raised his hand and asked, “Mr. Mac? Is heaven really like your dream?”

Rob looked at the boy for a second as he and the rest of the class looked at Rob expectantly and said, “Yes, Jacob, I believe it is,” and after a few seconds hesitation he asked. “How many here have viewed it?” Almost all the hands went up. 

“We viewed it at quiet time,” volunteered a girl. The school very carefully filtered what Internet content was allowed at school so constant monitoring of what the children could access was not a problem. However, most social media sites and apps were blocked as well as most neuralizer sites.

“Why doesn’t Jesus look like the paintings in church?” asked one. “Why couldn’t we see God?” asked another. “Where is heaven?”, asked a third. And most importantly, “How do I go there?”

And for the rest of the period Rob answered all the questions about the dream that he could. Sometimes the answer was simply, “I don’t know.” The next classes followed the same pattern of distracted attempts at teaching followed by a question and answer session about the dream.

Rob forgot his earlier fears and felt invigorated like he hadn’t been in a long time and took a minute to thank God for the blessing of the dream.

When Rob and the girls arrived at home, Kat met them at the kitchen door and worriedly asked, “Have you checked your neuralizer account this afternoon?”

When Rob admitted he hadn’t, Kat updated him, “One of my friends linked to it on social media and it has over two hundred thousand views and tens of thousands of shares and links. But, Honey, some of the comments are nasty and threatening. I’m afraid for the girls. There are some disturbed people out there.”

“God will protect us,” he said. Rob hesitated to bring it up because he knew Kat’s feelings on the matter but plowed ahead. “And I still have Papa’s pistol,” he added. Rob wondered if still worked as he hadn’t taken it out to shoot in years, only oiling and operating the moving parts. Rob had decided that the old Smith and Wesson revolver was about as reliable as you could get and took very little training to operate. Kat had wanted to turn it in when the PRA had outlawed them but Rob had assured her that his grandfather had bought it before the 1968 Gun Control Act and had refused to register it when the mandatory registration law had been passed. He was sure that no records of the pistol existed.

Papa used to tell Rob, “I would rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6.” Well, Rob, thought, that was when Massachusetts followed the old US Constitution. The PRA constitution had no such guarantee of due process or the right to keep and bear arms. Citizens caught with a firearm were prosecuted and jailed even when it was used in self defense. The result was that the only people with guns were law enforcement and criminals. The bad parts of cities were now effective “no go zones”, even for the police. Politicians focused instead on disarming the law-abiding. They were much less dangerous to disarm than criminals. Turning it in was impossible as the grace period had expired 90 days after the law had passed. So Rob had kept his gun and kept quiet . He suspected many others had done the same.

  


Joanna Winslow hated the person who had posted that dream. Her life seemed to be going great until her wife, Alicia, had viewed the dream and told her she could no longer pretend that everything was okay. 

She had pleaded with Alicia to stay telling her how much she loved her. Alicia told her that she loved her, too, but could no longer be with her as her wife. Joanna knew that Alicia had grown up going to church but thought she had left all the racist and misogynistic shackles of an ancient culture behind for the freedom of a non-judgmental life. Alicia had packed her bags and left the very same day.

Joanna wasn’t the type to take this sitting down and needed a target for anguish. As soon as she arrived at her job in the Department of Diversity and Inclusivity, she ordered her underlings to track the source of that dream and to shut it down. She hated Christians and didn’t bother to hide it. There was no need to since most of the others at the DDI felt the same. They quickly came up with a name for her. Robert MacArthur. A teacher at a Christian school. Well, this was all she needed to shut the school down. She quickly drafted a complaint that a sympathetic judge would sign and sent it to the legal department. No Christian bastard was going to ruin her life and get away with it, she thought.

Rob arrived at school next morning and saw a group of people standing outside the main entrance. 

“What’s going on?” he asked no one in particular. 

“The school has been closed by the order of the state,” said someone.

“What? Why?” asked Rob with disbelief. 

“It says we were teaching hate speech.” added another. “Look for yourself.”

Rob pushed in closer and could see the chains through the door handles and the big padlock on the door. On the glass pane was a piece of paper that read:

NOTICE

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has hereby ordered the closure of this school under 

Title VII, Section 103 that prohibits the teaching of materials detrimental to the common good of the people of the State and the People’s Republic of America. This order is effective immediately and is not subject to appeal. All parents should contact their local school board to register their children for at the public school to which they are zoned.

________________________________________________________

And just like that Rob and the other teachers found themselves out of a job. The teachers and parents milled around and talked angrily among themselves. 

“Can they do this?” asked one parent.

“Apparently they can,” came the angry reply. 

“What do we do now?” asked another.

“Yes, what do we do now?” thought Rob. He and Kat had some savings and could manage a few weeks on her paycheck, and she could probably pick up some more hours at the hospital until he could get another teaching job. Until then, he could home school the girls as he and Kat were absolutely opposed to putting them in public school. Rob gathered the girls and drove glumly home. Already thinking of where he could apply for a job, Rob mentally updated his resume on the short drive. 

Kat looked up in surprise when the three of them walked through the door. “What...” she began.

“They closed the school,” said Emma.

“What? Why?” inquired Kat worriedly.

Rob recounted what the notice said to Kat who asked the same questions he had heard earlier and then answered as he had heard discussed at the school. “What did they allege was taught at school?”

“The notice didn’t say, but it was only a matter of time before our school was shut down like the others,” he said bitterly. “I mean, the PRA has shuttered the doors of a lot of other Christian schools in other cities. Why should we think ours would be different?”

“We’ll get along for a while. We’ll be okay. I’ll get another teaching position,” he reassured Kat, “God will open another door.”

He spent the afternoon polishing his resume and scanned online for teaching positions within commuting distance from his house and applied for several. 

The next morning he signed in to his neuralizer account to look see how his dream was doing only to find the message, “This dream has been blocked by the authority of the Attorney General of the People’s Republic of America as being unsuitable for public consumption”. 

“What?” he mumbled.

“What did you say?” asked Kat.

“My dream has been blocked,” he answered.

“Why would they do that?” demanded Kat.

“It says it’s ‘unsuitable for public consumption’,” returned Rob.

“That’s impossible,” said Kat in disbelief. “Can they do that?”

“Freedom of speech is no longer guaranteed by the PRA constitution. So, yes, I guess they can,” said Rob disgustedly. “Porn sites are allowed but a dream about heaven isn’t? That’s messed up,” he thought. But there was literally nothing he could do about it. Thankfully, the neuralizer server was physically located in what was left of the United States, or the Free States, as they called themselves.

“I’ll make a few calls about some job leads I got in my email overnight,” said Rob as he kissed Kat as she left for the hospital, “I love you. Be careful.” 

“I will. I love you, too,” called Kat over her shoulder.

Rob started making calls, but as soon as he told them his name, they would hurriedly tell him there was no position open and hang up. Finally, one recruiter said, “Mr. MacArthur, I’m not supposed to tell you this, but you’ve been blacklisted by the government. I’m sorry I can’t tell you more, but I’m risking my job by telling you this much,” and hung up.

Rob stared at his phone stunned for a minute. “Blacklisted? For what?” wondered Rob aloud to no one. Maybe because he had been a teacher at a Christian school. To test the hypothesis, Rob called a few teachers from the school and was told their job searches had similar results. Rob didn’t bring it up, but no one mentioned they had been told they were blacklisted. Well, the recruiter had said that he wasn’t supposed to tell.

Later that night Kat shook Rob awake. “Rob! Wake up! Someone has broken into the car!” she whispered urgently.

Instantly Rob was wide awake and heard the car alarm going off for a few seconds and then it went silent. He went to his closet where he kept his gun, thought better of it and grabbed a baseball bat and whispered back, “Call 911! Stay here, I’ll check on the girls.” If someone was breaking into his car, shooting at the perpetrator would only land him in jail. The gun was for life and death emergencies only.

“You’re not leaving me here! I’m coming with you!” Kat said.

Rob cracked the bedroom door open and peered into the dark hallway. Hearing nothing he crossed the hallway to the girls’ room and looked in. Both girls were still sound asleep. “Typical”, he thought. As he looked downstairs he could see a glow coming from the kitchen. He hurried downstairs and looked out the window and saw the car was on fire in the driveway. “FIRE! Kat! The car is on fire! Cal 911!”

Rob ran outside in his pajamas, grabbed the garden hose, and concentrated on keeping the fire from spreading to the garage and house. 

Kat came out clutching her cell phone. “Please hurry!” she said to the dispatcher and then to Rob, “The fire department will be here in a minute, honey.”

After what seemed like an eternity, they breathed a sigh of relief when they heard the wail of the siren. The fire truck pulled up and a fireman pulled a hose up to the car and had the fire out within a surprisingly short time. The fire chief, a burly man in his forties, said, “You’re lucky your car wasn’t closer to the house or you might have lost it, too. A fire investigator will be over in the morning to make a report. You can file it with your insurance company then.”

The girls had been awakened by the commotion and were standing in the kitchen door with Kat. Kat asked what the fire chief said and after he told her, she said, “It wasn’t accidental. Look at this. It was taped to the back door,” and handed Rob a piece of paper. He read, “Dam [sic] you Christians. The world would be better off without you bigots”. 

Rob felt sick to his stomach and looked at Kat. “It’s some nutcase,” he said finally.

“Does this have anything to do with the dream you uploaded?” asked Kat in a quivering voice.

For the first time, Rob considered the possibility that the dream could be a dangerous thing and the threats were not just your normal Internet crazies. 

“Why would anyone be angry about a dream about heaven?” asked Abby.

Rob considered her question and thought about her fairly sheltered life and said finally, “Because people don’t want to be told that what they are doing is wrong. Their heart is owned by evil and not good.”

“Now, let’s all go back inside and pretend to go back to sleep and trust God to take care of us.”

With that Rob and Kat herded them back inside and back to bed. Rob thought he wouldn’t sleep but was wrong and fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. It was still dark outside when his ringing cell phone jolted him awake. He answered it with a trying-not-to-sound-sleepy, “Hello?”

“Rob? This is John Wilson, the pastor from church. Listen very carefully. You and Kathryn and the girls are in danger. I need to come over to your house right now if you want to escape,” said Pastor John urgently.

“What? Why?” asked Rob, now fully awake again.

“There’s no time. I’ll explain it all in a few minutes when I come over,” answered John. “In the meantime get everyone awake and be ready to leave in an hour,” he continued and hung up.

“Who was that?” asked Kat with worry in her voice.

“It was Pastor John,” said Rob, “He says we’re in danger. We need to wake the girls and be ready to leave in an hour.”

“What?” asked Kat in disbelief. “Who are we in danger from?”

“I don’t know,” replied Rob, “but I trust Pastor John. Go wake the girls.”

Kat woke the sleeping girls and ordered them in her firm mom voice to get up and get dressed immediately. The urgent tone of her voice meant it wasn’t a time for questions and the girls got up and started getting dressed.

About the time Rob finished dressing, he heard a knock at the kitchen door. He looked out and saw Pastor John and someone he didn’t recognize.

Opening the door he said, “Come in, John,” and shook his hand. Kat came down and listened.

“I wish I could say good morning, but there is little good about it. I’ll get right to the point, Rob. You and your family are about to be arrested for treason against the state. That dream you uploaded to the web is causing all sorts of problems in the PRA. They mean to arrest you and ship you all to re-education centers in upstate New York.”

Rob felt the fear rising up in his throat as Kat clutched his arm. “I’ve heard of people being arrested and taken to them, but I thought they were all just stories.”

“They’re real, alright. There is a network for smuggling people to safety in the Free States similar to the Underground Railroad of the 19th century. I’ve been contacted by Eric, here, by the way, that’s not his real name, that the people in the network who have friends in high places tell them that the district attorney is seeking a warrant for your arrest.”

“All for a dream about heaven?” asked Kat in disbelief.

John explained, “It’s not just about the dream, it’s the questions people are asking about it. The people who demand tolerance for their beliefs and sins are the most intolerant. Anyone who was once on their side and rejects their views is shunned and anyone who converts them is a target”. He paused for a second and continued, “Rob, you’ve made a lot of enemies. Your dream has made people question the path their lives have been taking.”

“But they blocked it,” protested Rob.

“Yes, but not before it was downloaded and saved to hundreds of thousands of computers. It’s also still available in free countries and on the Dark Web to those who know how to access it”, said Eric, speaking for the first time. “Your bank accounts have been seized and credit cards have been frozen and your cell phones are being monitored. Within a few hours the police will be here with a warrant for your arrest”.

Rob pulled out his smart phone to check his bank account, but Eric warned against it. “Like I said, you’re being monitored.”

“If you want to stay free, you must do as I say and you must do it quickly,” he continued.

Kat stood close clutching Rob’s arm, and looked at him with the same fear he felt, wanting to scream or cry but sensed this was not the time to fall apart. Years of dealing with life or death emergencies in the hospital had prepared her for this. She would what she had to do to protect her family. So, she straightened herself and said in a voice as cold as steel, “Tell us what to do.”

“Good.” said Eric. “First, bring me all your cell phones and all your credit cards and identification and bring all your computers and pads to me. Gather enough clothes and personal items for a few days. And do it quickly. We don’t have much time. You won’t be coming back here, ever. I know you have a million questions but they will be answered later. Right now we’ve got to get you to a safe house.”

He mentally tried to inventory all the electronic devices in the house as he gathered them up and put them on the kitchen table. “I think that’s all”, he said to Eric.

Eric picked them all up and took the batteries out of the laptops and put them into a backpack. The cell phones and tablets he turned off, put into an electrostatic Mylar bag, which were in turn placed into an aluminum briefcase along with all the credit cards. “This will act as a Faraday cage and block all electronic transmissions,” he explained, “Your laptops will be wiped and reloaded for use by the network, if that’s alright with you, of course.”

Kat turned and saw Abby and Emma in the doorway, their eyes wide with fear, and asked calmly, “How much did you hear?”

Emma stood there near tears. “Enough to know that we have to leave,” said Abby.

“That’s right, sweetie. We have to leave right away. Now, I need you to go pack enough clothes for a few days and your toothbrush and anything you just can’t live without,” said Kat, “Now scoot. Don’t worry about packing neatly, just throw it in a bag and be ready in 30 minutes.”

As the girls hurried up the stairs, Rob said, “I’ll get the other things.” As he was going through his wallet, he realized how many cards with his name on it he had. Kat’s purse was even worse as she had more room to carry more cards. “What’ll you do with them?”, inquired Rob.

“We’ll shred and burn most, but some cards have an RFID chip in them that can be read when you go near a scanner like the ones used for anti-shoplifting in stores”, explained Eric, “We’ll use those to plant a false trail for a couple of days to throw them off and then destroy them, too. Now go pack, quickly.”

Rob went to pack with Kat who asked, “What about our photos and the kids report cards and the clay pot Emma made me for Mother’s Day?”

“All our photos have been uploaded to a secure server in case our computers crashed and we can recover them when we are safe. Just grab the things most important to you,” replied Rob.

Rob grabbed a few clothes from the closet and chest of drawers and thrust them haphazardly into a suitcase. He considered it for a second and shoved Papa’s pistol among the clothing. He grabbed his shaving kit and put it into the bag, too, then zipped the bag closed. Kat had finished packing already and was helping the girls.

When everyone was downstairs with their bags, Pastor John said, “Okay, everyone have everything they need? Let’s go.”

“Wait!”, cried Emma, “I’ve got to get Mr. Snuggles!” And she ran back to her room. 

“Hurry!” urged Kat. A few seconds later Emma reappeared clutching her stuffed bear.

Kat looked around, wondering about the irreplaceable treasures she was leaving behind, saw the refrigerator and snatched a child’s drawing. Clutching it she said with finality, “Ready.”

“Just a minute,” said Pastor John as he bowed his head. “Father, we pray for your guidance and protection from those who would harm this family. Bless them for their obedience to you. In Jesus’ precious name, amen”.

“Amen,” repeated the others in muted voices.

The went outside, passing the burned out hulk of their car into the coming dawn where a black van with dark tinted windows waited and loaded up their suitcases and climbed in. 

“This is as far as I go,” said Pastor John. “It’s best that I know as little as possible. I’ll be praying for you,” he said as he closed the door on the van.

“Where are we going?” Rob asked of Eric.

“First, we’ll drive around to make sure aren’t being followed. Then we’ll switch vehicles a couple of times and then take you to the safe house,” explained Eric.

Rob couldn’t help it and looked nervously over his shoulder from the middle row to see if anyone was behind them. Seeing nothing, he turned around and watched the road, wondering what lay ahead. Looking at Kat he could see the barely contained fear in her eyes. Emma was holding Mr. Smuggles tightly and staring at the seat back in front of her while Abby stared out of the window, trying to conceal her emotions.

They drove around until they came to a parking garage about 20 minutes from their house and parked next to a large silver SUV. “We use this garage for changing vehicles because we have verified that there are no security cameras here,” said Eric. “That’s your next contact in the SUV. She’ll take you to the next transfer.”

Eric helped them take their bags out of the van and into the SUV and said, “Godspeed, brother and sisters.” 

The MacArthur's climbed in the back of the SUV and the driver, a middle-aged woman said, “Good morning,” in an oddly cheery voice. “I don’t need to know your names but you can call me Maggie.”

“Good morning, Maggie. Where are we going?”, asked Rob.

“To the next transfer point,” she said vaguely.

As she pulled out of her parking spot and headed to the exit, four other vehicles, each large enough to hold a whole family, pulled out ahead of her and two behind. When they reached the exit, the vehicles all went in different directions. Rob guessed that the purpose was to confuse anyone who was watching and Maggie confirmed it.

Maggie made several turns and was soon in an area Rob was totally unfamiliar with. Finally she drove into an industrial section of town where it wasn’t unusual to have traffic at all hours. As Maggie drove up to a warehouse, and after the door raised, drove inside and parked near a panel van that had the name of a national delivery company on it. 

“Goodbye and good luck,” said Maggie.

They got out and loaded their bags in the back. “Get in and sit on the floor and I’ll take you to the safe house”, instructed the driver. Rob helped Kat and the girls in and climbed in the back himself. Abby sat close to Rob and Emma snuggled in under Kat’s arm and said quietly, “Where are we going, Mommy?”

“To a safe place, baby girl,” said Kat reassuringly. 

“Everything will be alright,” added Rob, patting her on the knee, “We just have to trust God to take care of us.”

Rob couldn’t see where they were going, which was probably the whole point of them riding in in the windowless back of the delivery van. After a number of stops and turns, Rob gave up trying to keep up with them and rode in silence. Finally, the driver stopped, turned off the engine and announced, “We’re here.” Rob heard the familiar sound of an automated garage door opener operating. When the door was fully closed, the driver got out of the van, walked around and opened the back door to the van. “Gather your bags and go inside,” he told them.

Rob got out first and could see that they were in a windowless residential garage and heard a voice from the front of the delivery van, “Welcome,” said a voice, “Bring your things inside.” Rob looked around and saw a man he judged to be in his thirties holding the door open. Then to the driver he said, “Thank you, driver, you can go as soon as our guests are in the house.”

As they made their way into the house, their host said, “First of all, you can call me Kevin and don’t try to find out where you are. Don’t even look out of the windows. The fewer people who know where we are, the safer everyone is. Now, I’ll show you to your rooms.”

By habit Rob started to introduce himself with, “Hi, I’m….” but was interrupted by Kevin who quickly said, “I don’t need to know your names. Compartmentalization and all that.”

After he had shown them their rooms, he said, “I’ll let you unpack and get some rest and I promise you that I’ll answer all your questions in a while after you’ve had some rest,” and he closed the door and left them all standing in the bedroom.”

No one said anything for a minute until Abby looked up at Rob and asked, “What happens now?”

“I don’t know, baby girl,” said Rob slowly, “I don’t know. But for now just go and unpack your clothes and things and then try to take a nap.” And he shooed them out of the door.

Then to Kat, “We’ll be okay”, he said reassuringly to Kat who hugged him tightly.

They wordlessly unpacked and straightened their wrinkled clothes and lay down to try to rest. After a few minutes they heard a soft knock on the bedroom door and the door cracked open and a small voice asked timidly, “Can we come in?”

“Of course. Come in and lie down with Mommy and Daddy,” said Kat quietly. 

The girls came in quickly and lay down, hugging their parents tightly for reassurance. The fire and the excitement of the morning caught up with them all and before they knew it, they were all asleep.

  


When they woke, Kevin was knocking at the door saying, “I’m sorry to interrupt your nap, but I’ve made lunch and you really must be briefed.”

“We’re awake,” said Rob sleepily. “We’ll be out in a minute”.

Rob and Kat woke the girls who groaned as they got up. Rob realized how hungry he was and went into the bathroom to wash his hands. Looking into the mirror he realized he hadn’t shaved or even combed his hair since the morning before. Running his tongue over his teeth reminded him he hadn’t brushed his teeth, either. “Well, that will wait for awhile,” he thought. Right now he was hungry.

Kat took her turn in the bathroom and came out and herded the girls into the kitchen where a simple lunch of sandwiches, chips, and soft drinks awaited them.

Kevin waited for them to finish and invited them to join him around the dining table. “I’m going to brief you on what I know and who we are and what the plan is,” he began. “I know that you are in danger because you have professed your Christian faith in some way and someone with political clout has made a complaint. I don’t know who you are but you aren’t the first we’ve helped to escape. It’s best if the children don’t hear the rest.” Kat had the girls return to their room.

Rob didn’t think that anyone had ever had his attention more. He continued, “First, we’ll forge identification documents and give you all new names along with birth certificates for all of you. We want you to appear to be like any other emigrant leaving the PRA. They won’t stand up to deep background scrutiny, but they will pass a police or border checkpoint. We’ll give you some cash and prepaid and debit cards with enough money on them to allow you to get to the Free States. Don’t use cash for amounts over $50 as using cash is suspicious. The route will be circuitous because the main routes will be watched carefully.”

“You’ll be given a burner cell phone and a laptop computer that we’ll contact you if need be. We’ve set up an email account online for you. The laptop has military-grade encryption software for sending you messages. The voice communications on the cell phone is also encrypted. The tower pinging and GPS locator have been coded with special software to give a false location to anyone should they attempt to track the phone. That means the mapping app on the cell phone won’t work, either. You’ll be given a standard highway GPS and paper maps for navigating. I’ll show you how to encrypt and decrypt a message later.”

“The WiFi on the laptop and cell phone have been disabled so the only way to connect the computer to the Internet is through a USB connector cable to the cell phone. That way you can’t accidentally give away your location with your IP address on a hotel or restaurant WiFi.” He continued, “Periodically you’ll exchange the phone and laptop and vehicle registration. Typically, that will be at the beginning of every move. Your contact will be an agent of the network dressed as a homeless person.”

With that, Rob had to ask, “How will we know which one? There are a lot of homeless people these days.” And indeed there were due to the poor economic policies of the PRA that essentially rewarded laziness and drug usage while taxing the shrinking pool of tax payers more and more heavily. As a result, few people would put in the 80-hour work weeks that a new business required of the founder. 

“Whenever you leave your safe house, turn right out of the driveway and continue along that road as far as you can. If you don’t see the contact before you get to the end, turn right and keep looking. Just keep turning right and doing the same thing until you find the contact. You will be given a safe word before you leave the safe house that you’ll write on five dollar bills. When you give it to the agent, they will give you a backpack exactly like the one you will be given with new items in it. Give the contact your old cell phone, laptop, map, and receipts in the old backpack and we’ll take care of them.”

Rob persisted, “But how will we know which homeless person to give the money to?”

“You won’t,” shrugged Kevin. “Just give five dollars to every homeless person you come up on until you get to your contact. Kindness is always a good policy.”

Continuing, he said, “Each morning you will receive a phone call. To ensure it’s the network calling and not someone else, the first word will be the previous day’s code word followed by a short message and the next day’s code word. Until you get to the Free States, do not, and I repeat this, _do not_ attempt to log into any of the websites you have ever logged in to. This includes online email, social media, online shopping, and any other account you have. For that matter, stay off the Internet unless you are directed to go to a specific site by the network. Do not call or text _anyone_ on the cell phone, especially friends or relatives. What they don’t know, they can’t be tricked, forced, or coerced into telling.”

“Would the government do that?” asked Kat fearfully.

“They most certainly would,” said Kevin seriously. “The people in charge of the PRA are ruthless in their efforts to stamp out any form of dissension or intolerance.” He pronounced intolerance with a little sneer.

Rob and Kat knew what he was saying was true because they had already heard of many churches and schools shuttered because the y refused to perform same sex weddings and validate homosexuality and sinful lifestyles. They had also heard of people disappearing in the middle of the night and rumors of re-education centers but no one seemed to know of anyone who ever came back from one. Rob wondered if ‘the disappeared’ were sent to those centers or had escaped through the network  or had been  murder ed  by the state . He guessed that it was some of both.

“You’ll be given a vehicle to travel in and told one destination at a time, through your contact”, said Kevin. “Now, I’m sure you have questions, so fire away.”

Kat was first, “Why can’t you just transport us across the border in the back of a van like the one we came here in”?

“Good question”, replied Kevin. “All vehicles leaving the PRA are searched for items of excessive value before they are allowed to leave. It would be hard to explain four people crouched in the back of a van. A family of emigrants leaving in a minivan are common enough to hardly give a second glance.”

That made sense, they thought. “What about flying us out?” asked Rob.

“Two reasons,” answered Kevin, “One, identification papers are given extra scrutiny at airports and, second, facial recognition software would spot you in a minute and alert the authorities. Security cameras are everywhere and most of them are connected to the Internet. You won’t be able to avoid them completely, so stick to the route you are given and only stop at mom-and-pop gas stations and diners because they are less likely to have security cameras.”

“Will we be given new identities by each contact?” asked Rob.

“No,” said Kevin. “It’s too easy to get confused with too many changes. Besides, we think you’ll be out of the PRA within a few days.”

“What will happen to our belongings we left behind?” asked Kat, thinking of the photos and trinkets the girls had given her that she had been forced to leave behind.

“There is nothing we can do at the moment,” said Kevin. “Law enforcement has already been to your house with arrest and search warrants. By now it is likely they have gone through everything you owned searching for clues about where you have gone. And there is no doubt that you house will be under surveillance for a while.”

“Now, look through what you brought with you and make a list of necessities you’ll need and we’ll have them delivered,” said Kevin.

Rob and Kat did just that and spent the next hour looking through their own and the girls meager belongings and made their list. When they brought it to the living room they saw that Kevin had set up a camera and several backgrounds on tripods. Kevin took all their pictures for their new identifications. “I’ll submit these and your new identities will be here in the morning,” Kevin said. “Your new names are Steven and Susan Smith. Your daughters are Grace, for the older one”, he said “and Zoe, for the younger”, indicating Emma. Make up some dates for your birthdays and give them to me. For the rest of the day, practice calling each other those names until you can say them naturally”.

When Kat told the girls that they would be getting new temporary names, they thought that calling each other by their new names was great fun while “Steven” and “Susan” tried to respond when their new names were called. 

Kat went through the kitchen and found something suitable for a quick dinner and regretted not having a better meal for Rob and the girls.

The reality of their situation began to soak in after dinner while they had quiet time to think about it. They were never going back home and it would be a long time before they would be able to contact friends or family, even to just let them know they were safe. Rob and Kat kissed both girls good night with an, “I love you,” to each. 

“Ab-- uh, Grace, I mean, would you like to say prayers tonight?”, asked Rob.

“Not tonight, Dad,” she replied. They all held hands and ‘Steven’ began, “Our Father, thank you for keeping us safe from those who would harm us. We follow where you lead because we trust you as our shepherd. Thank you for Kevin and Eric and Maggie and all the other people helping us. Lord, I ask your protection for them as they risk their freedom and lives to help others. Give us all the bravery they have shown us. Thank you for the blessing of the dream and I pray that it glorifies your name. And all God’s children said,” 

“Amen,” they said together.

Rob and Kat prepared for bed while Rob finally shaved and brushed his teeth. The shower felt good on his back as he thought about the dream and the events of the past few days. They had gone from a normal family struggling to make financial ends meet and trying to raise their daughters to honor God to a scared group of refugees trying to stay out of re-education centers, prison, or worse. He wondered if this was how the Jews felt in Nazi occupied countries.

After his shower and the girls were in bed, he confided in Kat about his worries and doubts. “Why did God choose me? I mean, I’m not some great biblical scholar and teacher like Paul. I don’t have the passion of someone like Reverend Billy Graham. Hell, I’m not even a very good Christian!” he paused. “See, I cussed! I don’t read the Bible often enough or pray enough. Why me, Kat?”

“Honey, you know that God doesn’t choose you based on what you can do, but instead on who _you are.”_ She went on, “Moses was a stutterer and killed an Egyptian. David was an adulterer and had a man killed so he could steal his wife. Jonah tried to run away. Peter acted without thinking. Even Paul had helped persecute new followers of Jesus. What all those people had in common was obedience and their love for and trust in God. God _knows_ we are imperfect. He is forced to use imperfect people because they are the only kind there are.”

Rob knew all those things but was glad to hear them spoken out loud. “So, you’re not upset that we basically lost everything?” he asked timidly.

“Of course, I’m upset,” she said. “But it’s all just stuff that can be replaced. Most of it anyway. The important thing is we’re still together, and we’re still free.” Then quickly as she looked up, “God, keep us together.”

Rob felt reassured like he hadn’t since the school had been closed and hugged his wife tightly and kissed her and fell asleep thinking about the dream.

Before he knew it, Kevin was waking them up and it was still early. As Rob was getting dressed, he thought he smelled fresh coffee and when he entered the kitchen, he saw someone had prepared a nice breakfast of coffee, juice, bacon, scrambled eggs and toast for them. “Thank you for breakfast,” said Rob.

“Don’t thank me. Those sandwiches you had yesterday were the limit of my cooking ability,” said Kevin. “One of the ladies that support the network came over early and made it.”

“Well, thank her for us,” said Kat, pouring a cup of coffee.

“No need, Susan.” said Kevin, using her assumed identity. “We seek neither recognition nor thanks for doing God’s work. Your new IDs should be here in a while, so pack your things, you’re leaving this afternoon.”

When their newly forged identification papers arrived in an envelope by courier, Rob and Kat were impressed by the quality of the documents. There were passports, driver licenses, and birth certificates. The forgers had made them with wear and creases to make them appear more authentic. They had even touched up the photos in the passports and driver licenses so they would appear to have been made at different times with different hairstyles.

They had all their possessions packed and ready to go when they heard the garage door open, a vehicle enter, and the door close. Rob and Kat thanked Kevin for his help. He gave one last instruction as they loaded into the back of the van, maybe the same one that had brought them here, wherever here was. “Your driver will take you to your drop off point and give you keys to a vehicle. Don’t forget to turn right as you exit and look for your contact. Your first password is ‘sip’. The first contact will only give you a map only. Goodbye, Smith family and Godspeed.”

With that he closed the door to the van and they were off. Again the van made several turns so that they were thoroughly confused about how to get back to the safe house and eventually stopped. As the driver opened the back door, they saw they were in an underground garage. He handed Rob an envelope containing a key with a remote door opener and instructed Rob not to press the unlock button until he was gone.

When he had gone, Rob pushed the unlock button and was rewarded with a faint beep. Pressing it again as they all looked around, Abby said, “Over there! In the next row. It’s the light blue Toyota minivan.”

They all carried their suitcases and bags and stuffed animals to the minivan. Rob gave it a quick look and guessed it to be about 10 years old. He hoped it had been well maintained. 

After they had loaded the van and buckled up, Rob checked the fuel gauge, saw it was full and began to wonder where they were. As he followed the signs to the exit, Kat wrote ‘sip’ on a five dollar bill. When they got to the exit, Rob turned right onto the street. As they got to the first intersection with a stop sign, sure enough, there was a homeless-looking woman panhandling. Rob pulled over and the woman came to the passenger side window. 

Kat said, “Good morning. I have something for you,” as she gave the woman a coded $5 bill. 

The woman took it and said a gruff, “Thank you,” and backed away. 

Rob and Kat looked at her expectantly for a few seconds until she said, “What? You want something else?”

Feeling sheepish, Rob said, “Uh, no, have a blessed day,” and pulled away. “Well, I guess that wasn’t our contact,” he said aloud. “Honey, get another bill ready.”

The next homeless panhandler they saw was a rough looking man who looked to be in his 50s with a sign that said, “Veteran. Anything helps.”

Once again, Rob pulled over as Kat lowered the window holding the coded $5 bill out for the man. The man walked over and took the bill, looked at it quickly, then leaned toward the van as though he was stumbling and caught himself on the door, surprising Kat, surreptitiously pulling a manila envelope out of his oversize coat and dropping it into Kat’s lap. 

“Pardon me for my clumsiness, ma’am,” he said. “God be with you,” as he backed away.

“And you, too,” replied Kat.

After they had driven away, Kat tore open the envelope and pulled out the map and a slip of paper with the name and address of a non-chain motel in New Hampshire a couple of hours away from their home. As they had been told, the route was highlighted on the map. 

When she had read it, she questioned aloud, “New Hampshire? That couldn’t be right. That is opposite of the direction that we want to go.”

“Well, what better way to throw them off our trail than by going opposite of what they are looking?” Rob asked rhetorically. 

The outlined route stayed off the freeways, sticking to lesser used state roads and with Kat navigating, they managed to find their way to a roadside motel in central New Hampshire near Laconia. Rob remembered coming to the area with his parents and staying at similar motels like this one. They went to see the Old Man of the Mountain and he wished it hadn’t fallen before the girls could see it. As a college student he and friends would scrape enough money together to fit four to a two bed motel room for a weekend of skiing in the White Mountains.

He went inside and rang the bell on the counter when no one appeared at the desk. After a few seconds, a man who looked as craggy and old as the Old Man of the Mountain appeared. Rob smiled at the thought and the old man, or OMM as he mentally nicknamed him, said in a New England drawl, “Can I help you?”

“Yes, I would like two adjoining rooms, please,” said Rob.

“You’re in luck. The period between spring break and summer is slow. No snow and no tourists,” OMM explained. “How long will you be staying?” he asked.

Rob hadn’t thought about it until then and quickly said, “Just a few days.”

“ID, please,” said OMM tonelessly.

Rob fished out his forged driver license and handed it to him. OMM peered through his bifocals at the driver license and two-finger typed his name into the computer. 

“That’ll be $120 for the two rooms for each night. Will that be okay?” asked OMM.

“Yes, that will be fine,” said Rob, handing him the prepaid debit card, trusting there was enough money to pay for it all. “Is there a family restaurant nearby?” he inquired.

“My son-in-law owns a little diner called Joseph’s down the road. Pretty good food at a decent price, too.”

“Thanks,” replied Rob, “We’ll try it.”

“Thank you, Mr. Smith,” said OMM, handing him passkey cards. It took Rob a second to realize that OMM was referring to him. “The Internet pass code is on the card envelope.”

“We won’t be needing it,” replied Rob as he returned the envelope to OMM.

He got in the van and Kat asked, “What took you so long?”

“Oh, I was just talking to the Old Man of the Mountain,” he answered, smiling cryptically.

They unloaded their bags and went into their rooms which were surprisingly nice given the age of the place and the relative cost. “That’s probably part of the reason why they picked it,” thought Rob.

“Don’t unpack,” said Rob, “We may not be here long.”

After unloading, they all went back to the minivan and drove to Joseph’s. As they went in Kat pointed out a sign that read, “No WiFi. Put down your cell phones and talk to each other,” which suited them fine.

The diner was a throwback to the 60s complete with aluminum-trimmed Formica tables and mini jukeboxes. Emma amused herself with the jukebox while the others looked at the menu which listed simple, hardy choices typical of New England cuisine. When their order came, they thanked the server and ate quickly. Paying with cash, Rob left a moderate tip. He considered leaving more, but Kat quietly reminded him that they didn’t want to be remembered.

Back at the motel, Rob idly looked in the night stand drawer and found a copy of the Gideon’s Bible. He realized for the first time that one of the things he had forgotten to get was the bible Kat had given them their first Christmas together. He thumbed until he found Joshua 1:9 and read, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” “God, I trust you to be true,” he thought. He closed the bible and put it in his suitcase, silently thanking the faithfulness of the Gideon who had put it there. It wasn’t really stealing as the Gideons actually hoped people would take the bibles.

Rob lay awake for a long time and when he finally did fall asleep he was awakened by cell phone. He picked it up and answered. “Hello?”

The voice on the other end said, “Sip, code green, gland. Repeat, sip, code green, gland,” and no more. Code green meant all clear but to leave an hour before checkout time.

“Well, looks like we have a short stay here,” he said to Kat. “We check out and leave this morning. Today’s password is ‘gland’.”

“I’ll wake the girls,” replied Kat.

As they busied themselves with their morning routine and packing, Rob went in search for a fast food joint that served breakfast to go. When he returned with the food, they all thanked God and broke their fast hungrily.

They loaded their bags as Rob went to check out at the office. OMM was there and asked, “Leaving so soon?”

Rob replied, “Yea. Gotta be moving on,” as he took the receipt and scribbled a signature that could have said anything. 

Returning to the minivan, he handed Kat the receipt and debit card and reminded her to stuff them along with the map, cell phone, and laptop into the backpack. Turning right out of the motel parking lot, they were at the edge of town and saw a shabbily dressed man holding a sign that simply said “Homeless” and a dog on a leash. Rob pulled over as Kat unrolled her window and held out a five dollar bill with the code word on it. The man walked over, took the money and glanced at it. He took his backpack off and handed it to Kat who gave him hers in return.

As they drove away, Kat opened it and withdrew the cell phone, gift cards and map from a manila envelope and examined it. Finally she said, “It says we’re going to Utica, New York.”

“Utica, New York?”, inquired her husband. “Never been there.”

“It looks to about 180 miles as the crow flies,” replied Kat peering at the map. “Turn around, we’re headed in the wrong direction. There is an address on the map.”

Rob pulled into a convenience store parking lot. “Let me see the route,” he requested. After a moment he said, “But the route is anything but as the crow flies. It will take us 4 or 5 hours to get there.”

Kat agreed, again taking her role as navigator and instructing Rob to turn left back onto the highway. 

As it turned out, it was a rather pleasant trip through the New England countryside that relatively few ever bothered to make; the destination being more important than the journey. The only thing that bothered Rob was the remote feeling of the area. They were literally only a few hundred miles from some of the most crowded areas of the northeast, yet they felt as though they were in another country. 

The only time Rob became worried was when a sheriff’s deputy pulled out of a side road and followed them for a while. His anxiety peaked when the deputy turned on his blue strobe lights and siren. Rob knew better than to try to outrun a police interceptor in a minivan, so he put on his turn indicator to move to the shoulder as the deputy overtook them and went around, off to some other emergency as they all breathed a sigh of relief. 

The rest of this leg passed uneventfully although the girls complained about how dirty the restrooms were along the route. Rob had read an author commenting in one of his books that the state of society was in direct correlation to the cleanliness of public restrooms. He didn’t know if it was true, but it sure seemed to be.

When they arrived at the address there was a shabby-looking motel that caused Emma to make a face and say, “It looks dirty.”

The rest had to agree and question the network’s selection. Rob got out of the minivan and went to the office to get some rooms. An attendant in his twenties with tattoos covering his forearms and who could use a shave was watching TV when he walked in, slowly came to the counter, and asked, “What can I do for you?”

Rob asked hesitantly, “Could I get two adjoining rooms for the night?”

“Not many people rent here for the night. Mostly families who’ve been evicted from their homes renting by the week, until a church can help them out,” said the attendant. “You just traveling through?” he asked conversationally.

That caught Rob by surprise. For the first time he looked closely at the attendant. He was even more surprised when he noticed the young man’s t-shirt read ‘Christ Church of Utica’. Then he felt ashamed of his initial negative thoughts of the young man a vowed to himself to try to not be so judgmental of people who looked different from himself.

“Yea, just heading through,” agreed Rob noncommittally. He paid for the room with his card and wondered how extensive the network was and if this motel and Christ Church of Utica was part of it. It was probably better that he didn’t know, he thought.

“If you stay more than a night, I’ll apply this to the weekly rate,” said the attendant. “God bless you and your family and safe travels.”

Rob thanked him and took the passkey cards.

They went to their rooms on the back side of the motel and unloaded their bags into their room which surprised them all. The furnishings were old and cheap, but at least they were clean. The network had come through again.

Evening went by uneventfully and the next morning when the cell phone rang the caller said, “Gland, code black, pong. Repeat, gland, code black, pong.” and hung up. Code black meant to stay in place until at least the next phone call, but be ready to go at a moment’s notice. 

Rob used the room phone to the front desk to inform the attendant. This time a young woman answered. When he told her that they would be staying an additional day, the woman asked, “Do you need assistance from one of the local churches for permanent housing or a job or anything?”

Rob politely declined her offer and went for breakfast for them all. As he was driving back with the food, the cell phone rang unexpectedly. He answered with a nervous, “Hello?”

The voice on the phone said, “Pong, code red, jealousy. Repeat: pong, code red, jealousy.” 

Rob’s heart rate jumped at the mention of the urgent evacuation command as he sped back to the motel. Running inside he told them of the urgent evacuation message and ordered them to all load as quickly as possible and to leave nothing behind. “Come on, Abby,” he urged. “We have to leave as soon as possible.” They would just have to forfeit the fee for the room. Rob felt that somehow the network had already planned for that.

Driving out of the motel parking lot and turning right, they almost immediately saw a man standing at an intersection with a sign that said, “God is good. Please help.” Rob pulled over while Kat handed him a coded five dollar bill. The man looked at it and stuffed it into his pocket and quickly exchanged backpacks with them and said, “God is good all the time.”

Rob drove away while Kat opened the backpack and pulled out the folded map. Their new destination was Buffalo, New York about 6 to 8 hours away depending on stops for bathroom breaks and gas. Again, the route took them well off the beaten path, through lovely countryside that relatively few non-locals would ever see. Rob wondered what had changed so quickly to cause them to go from a code black to a code red in less than an hour. There would be time to worry about that later as he followed a circuitous route around the edge of Utica.

After several bathroom breaks, food stops, and gas stops, they arrived uneventfully at a hotel near Buffalo. They were so close to the border between the PRA and the Free States that Rob and Kat wondered why they weren’t just told to cross over today. But the network had brought them safe so far, so they trusted in God and the network to keep them safe for the rest of the journey.

Rob checked in using his assumed identity and asked where the nearest Walmart was as they needed some items. Receiving directions, Rob went in search for the items while Kat gathered their dirty laundry to wash in the hotel’s guest laundry room. After supper and laundry, Kat asked the girls to come into the room for a story.

Reading from the first book of Samuel, she read the story of David and how King Saul had chased him and tried to kill him, but God always protected him. When she had finished she told the Abby and Emma, “God always looks out for his people, and he will look out for us.”

Abby hesitantly asked, “Then why couldn’t he protect us back at home?”

“Because his plan was not for us to live in fear in Massachusetts for the rest of our lives. We’re confident that he has a better life for us somewhere else. We’re not sure but wherever that is, God has already been there preparing a place,” answered Kat. “Now off to bed with you both. We’re getting close to our new home in the Free States.”

  


Although it wasn’t her usual occupation, Joanna had partially begged, and bullied for a spot on the fugitive tracking squad detailed specifically with capturing Robert MacArthur and his family. There was no doubt that they were being aided by a system of smugglers. So far, the PRA had been unable to penetrate their organization, but it was only a matter of time before they were discovered and shut down.

She usually didn’t care what happened to dissidents and troublemakers, but this was personal. Each day brought new sadness, which gave way to anger, and then frustration.

The next morning the family rose early and while eating at the hotel’s complimentary breakfast, the cell phone rang. Rob answered a quiet, “Hello?” The voice on the incoming call said, “Jealousy, code red, acadia. Repeat, jealousy, code red, acadia.”

“We have to leave. Now!” said Rob urgently.

“Again?” asked Emma.

“Yes, sweetie,” replied Rob.

After hurriedly packing their bags and loading the minivan, they again looked for their contact. When they located the contact, they were somewhat surprised to see a young woman with a close-cropped head and several facial piercings holding a sign that said, “Too proud to prostitute myself”. As they pulled up, they gave her the marked bill and exchanged backpacks. The courier said, “God be with you. Now, go! They’ll be here in a few minutes!”

It takes all types, thought Rob as he pulled away, driving as quickly as he could without attracting attention. Kat unfolded a map and saw that they were only going a couple of hours away to another motel in Jamestown, NY. “Why can’t we just go ahead and cross over to Canada or the Free States?” asked Kat with the sound of frustration in her voice.

“I don’t know,” replied Rob. “Maybe they think we’re so close to Canada, we would be heading there and be waiting for us,” he suggested. “Plus there are relatively few crossing places into Canada near Buffalo. And these days Canada is not much better than the PRA.”

Kat considered it for a moment and accepted it in the absence of contradictory evidence. Besides, there were more places to cross from the PRA into the Free States along the southern border of New York. Although most of the county roads between New York and Ohio were officially closed, only a simple gate with one or two border patrol agents barred many. With their liberal drug laws and continual need for more revenue, the PRA was more concerned with money being smuggled out of the country than contraband being smuggled in. That’s the problem with socialism; eventually you run out of other people’s money.

The relatively short ride to Jamestown ended up at an extended stay hotel. “Looks nicer than the other places we’ve stayed at,” announced Kat. “But I hope we won’t be here long.”

“Me, too,” chimed in the others.

The girls had been real troopers during this escape but Kat could sense that their silence was due more to stress than boredom. With every police car they encountered, Kat could sense their tension rising. From her medical training, Kat knew that people were not made to be under stress for prolonged periods. Stress causes very real physical and psychological problems in people. Kat prayed that they could put up with just a few more days and then find some way to relax and forget they were on the run.

After checking in, Rob ordered pizza delivery and was summoned to the lobby when it arrived. The delivery person, a young woman in her mid twenties wearing a sports team jacket at least 3 sizes too big said to him, “You look familiar. You from around here?”

Thinking quick, Rob answered, “I grew up here as a kid and moved away a long time ago. Maybe you are thinking of some of my relatives.”

The woman shrugged and said, “Maybe that’s it,” then thanked him for his tip and left.

Rob began to worry about her possible recognition of him. There were most likely warrants for his arrest, but he didn’t believe his “crime” rose to the level of a most wanted list. Praying that it was just a coincidence, Rob returned to the room with the pizza. 

For the first time, Rob turned on the laptop and connected it to his smart phone once it had booted up. He checked the email and was surprised to find an encrypted message waiting for him in the inbox. He ran the decryption program as he had been taught and used the passwords he had memorized. The password was four words selected by the numbers of five rolled dice. This method, along with the requirement that the program be restarted after each wrong guess, was extremely effective in eliminating automated computer programs that ran random sequences of words and letters and characters that could guess a password in a few hours. But as an additional measure, the program decryption program was written in a way that shredded the message by writing over the message with random data after five incorrect guesses. Rob thought carefully and typed in “dingo swarm 55th hotbox”. To his mild surprise, the message appeared and said.

“To the Smith family:

The authorities have been working very hard to find you and as you have been told, they have gotten very close to finding you several times. But by God’s mercy, our people inside have been able to tip us off in time. We are unsure how they are tracking you but we will continue to use all our resources to keep you safe. 

Your names and faces have been on the news and they are claiming that you are domestic terrorists, so only go in public places when you must. Your next call will take you across the border to the Free States. There are many here who are praying for your safety. Godspeed and God bless you.”

Rob closed the message and thought about it as the encryption program shredded it. It didn’t tell him much more than he had already known or guessed, but it was good to know that they would soon be out of the PRA.

He shut down the computer, put it away and picked up the Gideon’s bible he had taken from the first hotel they had stayed at. “When was that?” wondered Rob, “Was it really only three days ago?” It seemed that their old lives had never existed and they had been on the run forever. He opened to Psalms 28 and read:

 **1** To you, O Lord, I call;  
my rock, be not deaf to me,  
lest, if you be silent to me,  
I become like those who go down to the pit.

 **2** Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy,  
when I cry to you for help,  
when I lift up my hands  
toward your most holy sanctuary.

 **3** Do not drag me off with the wicked,  
with the workers of evil,  
who speak peace with their neighbors  
while evil is in their hearts.

 **4** Give to them according to their work  
and according to the evil of their deeds;  
give to them according to the work of their hands;  
render them their due reward.

 **5** Because they do not regard the works of the Lord  
or the work of his hands,  
he will tear them down and build them up no more.

 **6** Blessed be the Lord!  
For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.

 **7** The Lord is my strength and my shield;  
in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;  
my heart exults,  
and with my song I give thanks to him.

 **8** The Lord is the strength of his people;  
he is the saving refuge of his anointed.

 **9** Oh, save your people and bless your heritage!  
Be their shepherd and carry them forever.

David must have felt so alone when he wrote that, thought Rob. His own king, whom David had never done anything to offend, was literally hunting him down to kill him. Rob thought about his situation for a moment and the reality of it frightened him. The hearts of the leaders in the PRA were owned by the evil one. They professed tolerance and love but when you got down to it, they loved no one and tolerated only people who agreed with them 100%. Deviation from their ideology was not tolerated in any form and those who were determined to be ineducable were eliminated. It had happened innumerable times throughout history and it seemed that totalitarian regimes were always just a few more murders away from utopia.

“Please protect us the way you protected David 3,000 years ago,” prayed Rob silently. The food and stress and quiet soon made his eyelids too heavy to keep open and he fell asleep with the bible open on the bed beside him. 

While it was still dark outside the phone woke him from his slumber as he sleepily answered, “Hello?”

The message was simple as always, “Acadia, code red. Jasmine. Repeat: acadia, code red, jasmine.”

Immediately Rob woke Kat and the girls and hurriedly packed their clothing. Once they had picked up their new backpack, they looked at the route outlined on the map and noticed the crossing point was only a few miles away just south of Jamestown. As they were pulling away from the market, a black SUV pulled out from a side street and blocked their way. Two more quickly appeared behind them, trapping them.

A man in black tactical gear jumped out of the SUV in front, pointed what looked like a machine gun at them and yelled in a commanding voice, “EVERYONE OUT OF THE VEHICLE! NOW! KEEP YOUR HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!”

Rob glanced in the rear view mirror and saw several more people pointing guns at them. But what angered him most was the look of pure terror on his daughters’ faces. “What do we do, Daddy?”, cried Emma.

“Just obey the man, baby girl,” said Rob is what he hoped was a reassuring tone. 

As they all got out of the van, one of the men screamed at Emma, “DROP THE DOLL, NOW!” 

Rob took a step towards Emma and said, “Put it dow-” when one of the men rushed towards him and butt-stroked him in the stomach with his rifle, knocking the breath from him. As he doubled over trying to breathe, he was confused by Abby’s frantic cries of. “You promised not to hurt him! You promised not to hurt him!” He looked over just in time to see a man holding Abby just as he felt a heavy blow on the side of his head as everything went black.

Rob slowly awoke to a pounding headache and realized that he was naked in a bare room. Not only that, he was cold. Colder than he ever remembered. “Kat! Emma! Abby! Where were they? What did Abby say? Why did she say that? Where were they? Were they safe?”, he thought as he shivered from the cold. He looked around the room but saw only bare walls, a door, and a mirror, which he was sure was a two-way so his captors could watch him. It wasn’t cold enough in the room to cause a quick hypothermia-induced unconsciousness and death, but it was cold enough that he couldn’t get warm and the bare concrete floor sucked the heat from his body. He recognized this type of physical stress as a type of torture to break his will.

After what seemed like several long cold hours, a disembodied voice asked, “Are you cold Mr. MacArthur?” with a sadistically cruel inflection. 

“Where are my wife and daughters?” Rob screamed at the voice.

“Don’t worry,” answered the voice. “Your family is safely locked up elsewhere in this facility.” 

Rob heard a loud buzzing from the door for a couple of seconds and when it opened, a man entered wearing what could be described as a stereotypical government business suit. He humorously wondered if the suit had a tag that with a national stock number sewn into the suit and mentally dubbed him GS for government suit. “I asked if you were cold, Mr. MacArthur”, he repeated. 

Rob glared at him and between chattering teeth said, “If you harm my family”.

“You’ll what, Mr. MacArthur?”, asked GS. “I’m in charge here and if you want them to remain safe you’ll answer all my questions to my satisfaction. Is that understood?”

Rob nodded resignedly. “Yes,” he said quietly. He was prepared to die for his God, but he could not bear to think of what they might do to his wife and precious daughters if he did not cooperate.

“Good”, said GS. “First, how was your dream synthesized?”

“What? You can’t synthesize feelings in dreams. Everyone knows that,” retorted Rob.

GS looked at the mirror, which caused Rob to look just in time to see a green light through the mirror.

“Our stress sensors indicate you are telling the truth,” said GS. “So, tell me how you evaded us for so long and remember that your family’s safety depends on your truthful answers.”

Rob told them all he knew minus a few key details such as Pastor John’s involvement. He saw the wisdom of compartmentalization. What he didn’t know, he couldn’t tell. 

Again the light was green. 

“Good,” cooed GS. Then to the mirror, “Warm the room and bring him his clothes and some chairs.”

GS continued, “We hacked into your neuralizer account and traced all the downloaded copies of your dream and planted a tiny little virus into most of the accounts that erases only the dream. And our bots are constantly searching for new uploads and infecting them. And this.” he said, holding up Rob’s keychain, “is one of the last copies in existence. Within a few days, our agents will have tracked down them all and erased them all.”

The door opened and a woman brought in Rob’s clothing, left and returned with two chairs. He turned in modesty but was almost too cold to care. He dressed quickly, fumbling with the buttons and laces as the woman watched his embarrassment with a cruel smile.

“Thank you, Joanna”, he said to the woman. “Better?”, asked GS in what Rob thought was a falsely sympathetic voice.

Trying to control his emotions, Rob simply nodded his head.

“I’ve told you what you wanted to know, now tell me where my family is,” said Rob through still chattering teeth.

“They are safe elsewhere in this facility,” said GS noncommittally. “Without your daughter’s, Abby’s, help, we might not have caught you before you slipped away into that intolerable hellhole they call the Free States. You see, your daughter used one of your old cell phones to download a social media app to contact one of our agents who she believed to be a rather handsome young man. Our agent convinced her to tell us where you were. She wasn’t exactly sure, but the pizza delivery person remembered your face and called us with a tip early this morning.” He paused for a moment and continued, shaking his head, “Where would we be if not for the silly emotions of teenage girls?”

“That’s what Abby meant,” thought Rob.

He continued, “After we are finished here, you and your wife will be tried for hate crimes and sentenced to a work-reeducation camp.”

“What will happen to my daughters?” asked Rob fearfully.

“They will be made wards of the state where all the backwards-thinking nonsense you have poisoned their minds with will be erased. They will be instructed to be good, tolerant citizens.”

“I’ll bet the tolerance isn’t extended to Christians,” thought Rob dryly.

GS motioned to Joanna to come near and whispered, “Find out if there are any more copies.”

GS and the woman he called Joanna left and Rob stood there wondering what his next move should be. He considered attacking the next person who entered the room but quickly dismissed the thought as he knew that he had no training in fighting or combat. 

As he warmed, he sought guidance in the last thing he had, his God. “Lord,” he began aloud, “Why have you brought is this far and allowed us to be captured? I trust in you, but I am afraid for myself and my daughters. I don’t know what to do. They want to destroy my family and take my children from me. I’ve lost my job, my home, my family, and maybe my life. Haven’t I always tried to follow the example of your son, Jesus? Lord, please tell me.” as tears flowed down his cheeks.

As he finished his short prayer the words, “Love them as I have loved you,” came to his mind. “How can I love them?” he thought. 

But no answer came.

After an unknown period of time, Joanna came in with a tray of food. The food did not look appetizing, but Rob’s hunger overrode his distaste.

Joanna said, “It hurts, doesn’t it? Having the ones you love taken from you.”

Again Rob said nothing, wondering where this conversation was going.

“I requested some time alone with you so they aren’t watching now. I want to know why you would post such a divisive, hate-filled, piece or trash?”

“Have you viewed it?” asked Rob.

“Why would I want to? It’s already ruined my marriage to my wife!” Joanna shot back bitterly.

“Because it is about how much God loves you,” replied Rob.

“THERE IS NO GOD!” screamed Joanna, “HE DOESN’T EXIST!”

“God's existence does not require your belief,” replied Rob calmly. “He loves you anyway.”

“Well, I certainly have no love for someone who has allowed so much sickness and evil in the world,” she snorted.

Rob considered for a moment and replied calmly, “God only gave man what he wanted; to know good and evil. Man has brought us murder, wars, rapes, slavery, and thousands of terrible things. God gave you free will to do as you please. You can do evil, terrible things or you can do good things. In the end He asks only that you give yourself back to him.”

“Really?” she asked sardonically. “Then why does God not want me to be happy? He took away the woman I love,” she said bitterly.

“God does want you to be happy. But happy in him with his love and morality,” replied Rob.

“But I’ve been a good person,” she began, “I obey the law, I pay my taxes, I love my wife, I’m kind to animals.”

“Man’s measure of good is not God’s measure of good,” said Rob calmly. “God made man and woman to be his companions. To freely love him and accept his love in return and to live with him in paradise. All he asked them to do was obey his one rule. But they chose disobedience instead and were banished from paradise forever.”

“So people were kicked out for one infraction.” said Joanna. “Seems kind of harsh.”

“That’s because God is perfect in every way and cannot be in the presence of imperfect people,” said Rob.

“But nobody’s perfect,” argued Joanna.

“That’s right. The bible says, ‘For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’ No one gets to heaven on their own,” he answered.

“I don’t believe any of it,” declared Joanna. “I believe science.”

“Good,” said Rob, the science teacher in him stirring, “Let me ask you a few questions: What do you believe created everything? How did nothing become something? How did nonliving things become living things? Why did some plants and animals evolve but others didn't?”

“Well, the big bang created everything, and evolution created all the plants and animals just like science said it did,” said Joanna with confidence.

“But that doesn’t answer the question of how the universe came into being and how non-living molecules came to life and formed all the creatures that exist,” insisted Rob. “Science says that something happened to nothing for no explainable reason and the nothing became everything. Does that sound logical and scientific to you?”

“And then you have to explain the second big bang where all the created particles formed themselves into stars and planets and nebulae.”

“Then you have to explain how molecules of nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen spontaneously got together to form amino acids, proteins, and living cells.”

Joanna interrupted, “But scientists have proved that amino acids can be spontaneously formed by lightning in water.”

Anticipating this response, Rob continued, “If only 200 amino acids were required to form in a certain order to form a simple protein, the odds of it happening would be 10 to the 374th power. And it takes many proteins to make even the simplest cell. By comparison there are estimated to be 10 to the eightieth power of molecules in the entire universe.”

Joanna replied, “But the fact that we exist proves evolution,” said Joanna.

“Does it?” he asked rhetorically. “The fact exists that evolution has never been observed. The finches Darwin observed in the Galapagos Islands with slight differences in their beaks are still of the same species and able to interbreed with finches of other islands. They are not separate species. They had simply become slightly different due to local mutations. You can see how much selective breeding can change what a dog looks like. Yet they are all still dogs. Much like the Western Europeans, Indians, Chinese, Africans and other races changed over the centuries due to isolation from the other races. You’ll notice that in areas where the races overlap geographically, the people resemble a mixture of the races.”

Fully into his science teacher mode, Rob continued, “And evolution cannot explain why living things violate Newton’s Second Law of Thermodynamics.” The blank look on Joanna’s face prompted him to explain. “Newton’s Second Law of Thermodynamics states, in simple terms, that over time things naturally decay into a more disorganized state. In other words, atoms and molecules do not place themselves into a more organized formation.”

“Stop,” demanded Joanna. “I need to think. Guard!” And she got up and left.

Rob prayed he had not pushed too hard and made her angry. He didn’t know who Joanna was, but he suspected she could make things much worse for him and his family. 

Joanna’s head spun with all the information she had just heard. “Could any of it be true,” she wondered. After a few minutes search on the Internet she found arguments both for and against creationism, a word she had always associated with backwards thinking, uneducated rubes. As she read, she discovered that the creationists arguments were strong and not easily refuted, even though many professed to do so. She tried to dismiss their arguments but seeds of doubt stayed in her mind. She decided to try to view the dream again but was unable to find it on the Internet anywhere. The agent in charge was right, their bots were quickly erasing all copies of the dream. At least on any sites she could find.

Joanna lay on the bed and tried to sleep, but her mind raced with the thoughts that she might have been taught incorrect, or at best biased, information. Around 3 a.m. she got dressed and went to the cell where MacArthur was being held. When she got to the guard desk, she said, “I have something important to ask the prisoner.” Part of the conditioning for questioning of the prisoners involved denying them of a sense of time so questioning at odd hours was routine.

The guard slid her security badge through the door lock sensor and let Joanna into the cell. MacArthur was awake and sitting on the floor as there was no furniture.

Unsure how to begin, Joanna said, “Mr. MacArthur, is all you have said true? Is there really a God who loves us?”

Mac, sensing a change in Joanna, replied simply, “Yes. I believe it’s true.”

Joanna began, “I’ve tried to view the dream, but I saw nothing. Why did I not see anything?”

Mac had thought about this and remembered the story from Acts where the Holy Spirit had entered the disciples and people from all over the known world heard them proclaim the Word in their own language while others heard gibberish, scoffing that the disciples of Jesus were drunk. “I believe,” replied Mac, “That your determined disbelief prevented you from experiencing it.”

Joanna said, “I want see it now.”

Rob sat quietly, wondering how this was playing out.

She continued, “But, I can’t find a copy anywhere on the Internet. The PRA has very good hackers and has tracked down and erased most of the downloaded copies.” 

That’s it, thought Rob, they’re trying to find out if I have any secret copies of the dream. He thought of the flash drive disguised as a piece of gum. GS had not shown or mentioned it. When was that? Yesterday? Is this a trap?

Something inside him said, “Give it to her.” Mac immediately rejected the thought, but it persisted. “Give it to her.” Mark relaxed although he had not noticed that he was tense, and told her, “In my belongings, there is a box of gum, one of the pieces is hiding a micro memory chip.” He wondered if he was doing the right thing or was foolishly falling for a trick.

Joanna said, “Thank you.” As turned to leave, she thought to herself, if I see nothing, I’ll just turn it in to be destroyed and write off this whole matter as someone trying to fool me into believing in silly superstitions.

She went to the evidence room and searched through MacArthur’s belongings, finding the package of gum she took out all the pieces and selected the one that looked slightly different. After a moment, she discovered the mechanism that locked the cover on the and removed it. She put it in her pocket and returned to her room.

Pulling out her laptop, placed the chip into a holder and inserted memory card, started the neuralizer program and put on the headpiece and settled down, calming herself. But this time she wondered what was going to happen as she started the program.

Somewhat startled she immediately felt an all encompassing wave of love like she had never experienced before. She marveled at the feeling, never wanting it to go away for a period of time that could have been minutes or days. A man, shining like the sun but somehow not blinding her approached and said her name without speaking. “Johanna, my sister,” he said. Slightly confused, Joanna thought, but I have no brothers. 

“Who are you?” she asked. As the light dimmed, she could see the man of Middle Eastern heritage.

“I am Yeshua, the son of the Father, also called Jesus. Perhaps you have heard of me?”, he asked with a slightly amused tone in his voice and a kind smile on his face. 

“Are you real, or is this just a dream?” replied Joanna.

“Both,” Yeshua said. “I have been waiting for you to come to me.”

“Where am I?”, she asked.

“You are in the healing place. In it you are loved as only the Father can love you,” he answered. “Do you like it?”, he asked with a knowing smile.

“Yes, very much,” said Joanna suspiciously.

“Good. But we must move on. Walk with me,” he said in a gentle yet commanding tone.

Joanna walked quietly beside him and a thought came to her mind that she had never really felt comfortable around men, but this man was different somehow.

As though he could read her mind he said, “My child, I know the pain you have suffered through. We were there each time your step-father hurt you and cried with you each time and longed to gather you in my arms to comfort you.”

At this Joanna was suddenly furious and shouted, “If you were there, why didn’t you stop him?”

“Each person has free will. And each person has the capacity to do good or evil. I cannot impose my will on them or their lives would be meaningless. You would be like a robot, doing only what is directed. Soulless and empty. It can’t be any other way or you cannot become a companion to the Father. And the Father loves you very much and wants you to be his companion and friend. That was his love you felt at the healing place.”

“Who is this ‘father’ you are speaking of? And why do you say ‘we’?”, asked Joanna somewhat irritated. “I thought that Christians were monotheistic.”

“We are three yet one. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” he replied. “Much as a woman can be mother, daughter, and sister all at the same time. We each have a role that we have taken separate from the others yet still remaining one. It is a choice made from the beginning. My role was to pay for your sins.”

She thought about this for a minute and asked, “ _You_ paid for _my_ sins? How? Why?”

“Yes. By dying for your transgressions, I paid the penalty for you. Because we love you,” he said simply.

“God loves me?” she paused. “God loves me,” she said with more confidence.

Yeshua  beamed with  a radiant smile that made Joanna feel the love once more.  “Joanna, my child, this is but a tiny glimpse of what awaits those who believe in me. I wait for you. You must make a decision. To make no decision is a lso a decision.”

At that the program ended. Joanna checked the clock and was confused that only 5 minutes had passed. Wow, she thought, is that what Alicia saw? Was it real? Was it true? Were all the bible-thumpers right? She was confused and the room seemed to spin around her.  Then suddenly she knew what she must do. With conviction, she took the chip, replaced it in its hiding place, and slipped it into her pocket.

Walking out the door  she w ent directly to the guard station and asked to be let into MacAurthur’s cell.  She thanked her and entered the cell with MacArthur and said, “We’ll need some quiet time.”

When the guard had gone  Joanna simply reached into her pocket and held out the disguised microchip for Rob to see. “I...”, she began and faltered. “ What did he mean?”

Rob looked at Joanna and took the chip and asked, “What did you see?”

Joanna recounted what she had experienced and turned to Rob. “What does it mean?”, she repeated.

Thinking out loud to himself, Rob said, “Interesting.” Then to Joanna, “That’s not the dream I had. Similar, but not the same.” He paused for a minute and continued, “It means that God is calling you. He always has but you have refused to hear him.”

“Calling me,” she asked confused, “Calling me to do what?”

“To follow him.”

“Where?”

“Wherever he leads you?”

Joanna looked apprehensive and said, “I don’t know about that.”

Rob looked at her hard and asked softly, “Joanna, have you ever loved someone with all your heart?”

Thinking of her beloved Alicia, Joanna felt a pang of loss and whispered softly, “Yes. Alicia.”

“Did she love you, too?”

Again a soft, “Yes.”

“Would Alicia ever do something that would not be for your own good?”, Rob asked.

Tearfully she replied, barely above a whisper, “Never.”

“Neither would God. He is a good father wanting only good for his children,” explained Rob.

“Then what should I do to follow him?” she asked.

Rob replied, “First, you must realize that no one gets to heaven on their own because everyone has sinned and that includes you. Then you have to believe that Jesus was the son of God and was worthy to pay for everyone’s sins. The Bible says, ‘For God loved Joanna in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that if Joanna believes in him, she will not perish but have eternal life.’”

Joanna looked at him in disbelief and said, “No it doesn’t say that.”

Rob smiled and replied, “No, not exactly. But Jesus did die for you.” 

“Is that all?” asked Joanna, “Sounds too easy. Too simple.”

“It is simple,” Rob said. “Even a child can understand it.”

Joanna paused and thought about it for a moment then asked, “How do I do it?”

“You pray,” replied Rob. Anticipating her question he said, “Prayer is nothing more than a conversation with God. Do you want to believe?”

Joanna said in a small voice, “Yes. But I don’t know how.”

“Then just repeat after me,” he said holding out his hands. “May I?” he asked and hesitantly Joanna took his hands. “God, I know that I am a sinner.”

“God, I know that I am a sinner,” she repeated.

“I believe that Jesus was your son and was worthy to die for my sins and rose again on the third day. Amen.”

“I believe that Jesus was your son and was worthy to die for my sins and rose again on the third day, Amen,” she said. “Is that all?”

“Yep,” said Rob. “God knows your heart and your sincerity.”

“And if I sin again?” she asked.

“Being saved doesn’t mean you won’t sin. You WILL sin, but Jesus covered those sins, too,” explained Rob. 

“Then we are done here,” said Joanna. “Guard!” she yelled. Then to Rob, “Be ready.”

“For what?” asked a slightly confused Rob.

As the guard opened the door, Joanna pu ll ed her into the cell  and jammed a taser into her ribs. The guard stiffened and then fell to the ground unconscious.

Rob watched in shock and stood there with his mouth open.

Joanna looked at him and commanded, “Close your mouth and come with me if you want to get out of here.”

Rob hesitated unsure that this was the same person he had just spoken with about Christ, “What about my family?” 

“We’ll get them. Hurry!” urged Joanna. “Hurry! We only have a few minutes to escape”, she hissed.

Stopping for a moment, Joanna grabbed the unconscious guard’s security badge and two-way radio. She then closed the door on the cell and the guard.

Joanna led them down the passage, past the security desk and through another security door. Rob feared that they would run into another security guard, but noticed that there was a 24 hour clock above the security desk that read 03:58. That would explain the lack of personnel, he thought.

After a couple of turns, they came to another security desk where a bored looking guard stood up, walked around the desk and said, “May I help you."

“Yes,” said Joanna, “The director said to allow him to say goodbye to his family before we ship him off to be re-educated. He’s kind of a softy like that.”

At that the guard looked alarmed. That was not the director he knew. “I’ll have to ask someone about this,” he said as he started to walk back around his desk and pick up his phone. But before he could, Joanna pressed the taser against his back and held it for a few seconds. Once again, the effect was cartoon-like as the guard stiffened and then fell like a board, unconscious.

She grabbed his badge and went to the closest door and swiped it through the reader. Opening the door, Rob saw Kat on the floor cradling Abby and Emma as they slept.

“Rob!” she cried with fear and joy, waking the girls.

“Daddy!”, they both cried as they all ran to reunite.

“This is Joanna. She is helping us get out of here,” explained Rob. 

“What? Why?” asked a confused Kat.

“No time to explain. Just go!” said Rob in a voice that left no room for hesitation.

At that, they all ran out the open door with Joanna leading the way. “This way to the garage!” she hissed. 

When they reached another security door, she swiped her own badge to open the door. No sooner than she had done it and started to push the door open when the alarm began to shriek. “Oh,  shit !” she said, and then “Sorry,” to Kat and the girls. As they ran into the  garage, they saw the overhead doors begin to lower.

Joanna ran to the first vehicle, a  cargo  van and was relieved to see the keys in the ignition. “ Get in and get down!”, she yelled.  T hey all jumped in and got down on the floor.

Joanna started the engine, put it into gear and pressed the accelerator to the floor  and hit the partially closed garage doors and crashed through them.  Careening wildly, Rob heard gunshots nearby and the metallic whack as the bullets tore through the sides of the van but Joanna continued to accelerate  through the closed gate and down the road, guns firing and bullets hitting the van.

Within seconds they were far enough that the bullets stopped hitting the van and a terrified Kat asked, “Is everyone okay? Is anyone hit?”

The girls and Rob responded with noes but Joanna said, “I’m hit”, with a groan.

Kat, switching to nurse mode,  squeezed into the passenger seat and asked Joanna, “Where were you hit?”

“On my left side, below my rib cage,” she groaned but kept driving.

“Pull over and let me see,” demanded Kat.

“No!”, barked Joanna, “We have to keep going! We’re not far from the border.”

Joanna turned sharply at an intersection, throwing the MacArthurs against the side of the van.

“Hold on!”, yelled Joanna as she sped the van up to an alarmingly dangerous speed and crashed through some barrier. 

“We’re in the Free States,” she said painfully, “You’re safe.”

“Then pull over and let me take care of you. Please!” begged Kat.

Joanna nodded wordlessly and slowed to a stop. Kat and Rob jumped out and ran around the van. Kat opened the door and caught Joanna as she fell. Easing her to the ground, Kat felt her pulse and saw the blood staining Joanna’s shirt and trousers. She quickly understood that Joanna had only moments to live and said to her, “What’s your name, honey?”

“Joanna,” she replied weakly, “How bad is it?”

“You’ll be fine once we get to a hospital, Joanna” said Kat.

“I just met you and I can already tell you’re a terrible liar,” laughed Joanna weakly. “Mr. MacArthur?”

“Call me Rob,” he said gently.

“Will you tell Alicia that I understand why she had to leave? Her number is in my phone in the emergency contacts. They will come after her because of me. Promise me you’ll help her escape to the Free States.”

Rob nodded solemnly, “Of course.”

Joanna stopped looking at Rob and seemed to look through him instead, “I can feel the love. It’s just like the dream….” 

Kat felt for a pulse and shook her head. “Who was she?” asked Kat. “Someone from the network?”

“Quite the opposite,” said Rob. “She was a PRA agent of some sort.”

By this time sirens could be heard coming. Rob suddenly felt the urge to run but realized that they were coming from the north and south. South meant they were coming from the Free States and arrived in a minute. 

“Why did she help us?”, asked Abby.

“Because for the first time in her life she felt God’s love”, said Rob quietly.

The border guard who seemed to be in charge asked, “What’s going on here? Who are you? What happened to her? Is she dead?” indicating Joanna.

Kat said, “We’re refugees from Massachusetts seeking asylum. Our names are Robert, Kathryn, Abby, and Emma MacArthur. That woman was a PRA agent. She was killed helping us escape.”

“Robert MacArthur, you say,” said the border guard his eyes narrowing. “What was the last code word you received?”

Rob tried to remember and looked to his wife in panic who only returned the panicked stare.

“Jasmine”, said Emma firmly. “It was jasmine.”

The border guard looked at Emma for a minute and said, “Welcome to the Free States, MacArthurs. We’ve been alerted to be on the lookout for you.”

Upon hearing that, Rob reached into his pocket and pulled out the hidden microchip and said to the guard, “This must be kept safe.”

“What is it?” he said taking it and looking at it.

“It may be the last copy of the dream of the Son.”

At this the guard’s ears pricked up. “I’ve heard of it from friends but never watched it. It’s impossible to find on the Internet. How did you find a copy?”

“Because it was my dream”, said Rob. He then explained that the PRA government had been actively trying to erase all copies of it.

“Well, if it’s that important to the PRA for it to put that much effort into eliminating it, it must be bad for the PRA government. And anything bad for them is good for the people,” he said. “I’ll make sure this is kept safe.”

By this time the PRA guards were shouting from across the border to return the dangerous prisoners. The Free States border guard shouted back at them, “Sorry, boys. These people have asked for asylum and under our laws, they have a right to be heard.”

The ambulance arrived and the EMTs checked everyone out. “Who was she?” they asked.

“She was the thief on the cross next to Jesus,” said Rob quietly. Then louder, “She was a new sister in Christ and one of the bravest people I have ever known. ‘Greater love has no man than he who gives up his life for another.’”

To the border guard in charge, Rob said, “I have to make a phone call and after that, there is a woman in the PRA who will need the assistance of the network very soon.”

“I’ll relay the information to the network,” confirmed the guard.

Taking Joanna’s phone, Rob searched the emergency contacts for an Alicia. Finding her, he nervously pressed the call button. When Alicia answered the phone she said worriedly, “Joanna? Are you okay?”

“No, this isn’t Joanna,” he said. “I’m her brother in Christ. She died a few minutes ago. She says that she understands why you had to leave her. Listen to me, you’re in danger because she died helping someone wanted by the PRA escape from a holding facility.”

“What?” asked Alicia in a slightly hysterical voice.

“Her last request was to make sure you would be safe. Please, someone will be in contact with you very soon to help you escape.”

1


End file.
